With Q1 earnings time having come and gone, Modern Healthcare on Monday took a look at a trend that emerged across first-quarter reports from the largest for-profit hospital systems: They’re making more money per patient. And among them, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. made the largest leap by that metric, growing revenue per admission by 4.1 percent during the first quarter of 2018.
Tenet leadership, as MH points out, attributed that to higher acuity, particularly within its expanding sectors of cardiovascular and trauma. It says the trend is sustainable.
Interestingly, the No. 2 system by growth in revenue per admission also has a North Texas tie—it’s Nashville-based HCA Healthcare (owner of Medical City Healthcare), which grew the metric by 3.9 percent during Q1.
The numbers are particularly noteworthy—according to one analyst—because of the awful flu season. Not surprisingly, flu cases generally drive down acuity. More analysis over at Modern Healthcare.
